Getting started: Project managers

In Project Web App, project managers are the people who create and maintain projects and tasks, assign resources to tasks, and track task work and status.

Are you a project manager? If so, welcome to Project Web App! You can use this tool to create projects, schedule tasks, assign tasks to resources, approve timesheets, and review task progress.

What is Project Web App?

Project Web App is one part of an end-to-end enterprise project management solution. This solution includes a client program, Project Professional, and a server, Project Server. Project Web App is part of Project Server. It is a robust Web application that is used to do everything from analyzing portfolios and managing demands, to entering time in a timesheet and updating task status.

Get oriented

The Project Web App interface is made up of three main areas: the Quick Launch, the Ribbon, and the content display area.

The Quick Launch, on the left side of the window, lists the main views and pages that you are able to access. You can click these links to navigate to different areas of the program. Some pages in Project Web App do not include the Quick Launch. For example, when you fill out a form, you must complete and save the form or cancel out of it, in order to return to the Quick Launch.

The Ribbon is the toolbar that you use to perform actions on the project information in the content display area. There may be multiple tabs on the Ribbon, to change between different sets of actions. Each tab contains groups of related buttons that you can use to interact with the page content.

The content display area contains information about your portfolios, projects, and tasks. This is the main focus of each page, and is where you will enter and review data.

Where do you start?

Project Web App is highly customizable, so your organization can have a unique starting page. By default, the main page that appears when you open Project Web App is a great starting point. It shows information about tasks, timesheets, approvals, status reports, issues, and risks.

There are other useful places to start in Project Web App, depending on what you intend to do while you're logged on.

Create projects and schedule tasks

In Project Web App, you can create projects and schedule tasks in the Project Center. On the Quick Launch, under Projects, click Project Center. On the Ribbon, click the Projects tab to access the tools you can use in the Project Center. Here, you can create new projects using templates or by importing SharePoint lists. On the Projects tab of the Ribbon, click the arrow on the New button. Use the list that appears to choose what method you want to use to create a new project.

Once you've created a project, you can use the tools on the Project, Task, and Options tabs of the Ribbon to work with the project's tasks.

Work with resources

With a project and its tasks in place, the next step is to assign the resources that will complete the tasks. In some organizations, a resource manager may be responsible for assigning resources to tasks, but typically this falls on the project manager's plate. In Project Web App, you can add resources and manage your enterprise resource pool in the Resource Center. On the Quick Launch, under Resources, click Resource Center.

Once the resources you need for the tasks in your project are added to the Resource Center, you can assign them to tasks using the Project Center. On the Quick Launch, under Projects, click Project Center. Click the name of your project in the list to open it for viewing, check the project out for editing, and then build your team. Pick resources from your team to assign to tasks in your project.

Track time and task progress

Some project managers may find time and task progress tracking crucial for monitoring project status. As a project progresses, team members assigned to project tasks report how much time they spend on tasks and how much work is left. As the manager of the project where this data is being reported, it is your responsibility to review and approve or reject this time and task progress as it is reported.

The Approval Center provides a central location for approving both time and task progress. On the Quick Launch, under Projects, click Approval Center. Here, you can review the data that has been reported by team members, and then either approve the data, submitting it to the project, or reject it, with notes to help communicate the reason for the rejection.